Here With Me
by Sheena-MFfan
Summary: "Were you serious when you told me you loved me?" "Yes Oneesama, I was completely serious." "So, if Mew Ichigo hadn't interrupted our fight, would you have shot me?" "..."


**Hey guys! So yes, another Zakuro and Minto story from me cause I'm just awesome like that. I swear, no matter how old I get, I will still be writing stories for them. And I actually have been wondering about this for awhile-what IF Ichigo didn't interrupt their fight? Would it have continued for awhile, or gradually stopped on its own once they realized that fighting each other wouldn't do any good?**

**Anyways, all the sections that are written entirely in _italics like this_ are when either Zakuro, Minto, or both of them are remembering about events that occurred back in Episode 43 of Tokyo Mew Mew (so if you haven't seen that episode, then 1. This story will contain spoilers for you, and 2. YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON THE BEST TMM EPISODE.)**

**Hope you guys enjoy my story! :)**_  
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><p><em>Just moments after transforming, Minto had jumped at Zakuro with the intention to hurt her for the very first time. At the last second, however, the wolf Mew had leapt out of the way to avoid a painful chop to the shoulder. Not allowing her to get away, Minto instantaneously flew after her, throwing multiple punches that Zakuro narrowly avoided by twisting her body in the air. The moment the bird Mew was open, Zakuro pounced on her and pushed off her back with her feet with such a force that it sent herself flying high within the air and sent Minto diving towards the hard ground.<em>

_Letting out a cry of surprise, Minto opened her eyes just to see the ground looming closer and closer towards her. Thankfully, she regained control of her wings and began flying close to the ground, hiding herself within one of the many large patches of yellow grass. Zakuro landed shortly after and attempted to chase the blue haired girl, but eventually lost her in the thick environment. She skidded to a stop in an open section where she could see clearly and tried to find her opponent._

_With instinct driving her, Minto leapt out from the grass behind Zakuro. The only reason the purple haired girl heard her was because her wolf senses were so sharp. Zakuro bolted around and blocked herself with her arms, so that when Minto pounced on her, they were both flying low to the ground thanks to the force they were both using on each other. Their bodies were close, and they could feel each other's breath on their lips._

"_I loved you!" Minto confessed sadly, the wind whipping her bangs in her face as she stared into Zakuro's intense orbs. "I really loved you!" The bird Mew shouted that time, actually causing Zakuro to look stunned. It took the wolf Mew a moment to recover before she was able to push herself away from the blue haired girl._

"Were you serious?"

The purple haired girl hadn't meant to say that out loud. She didn't even notice she did until she heard Minto respond from across the café.

"Huh? Did you say something, Oneesama?"

Zakuro frowned slightly. She stopped cleaning the table in front of her, folded the silken cloth in her hands into a tiny square, and placed it delicately in the middle of the table, simply to stall for time. After this, she walked over to where the bird Mew was cleaning tables across the room. Minto completely stopped what she was doing when she noticed the undeniable seriousness within Zakuro's eyes; it felt like those sapphire irises were piercing through her very soul.

"Were you serious when you told me you loved me?"

Minto was frozen for a moment from the directness of the question, and at how unusual it sounded coming from the seemingly emotionless Zakuro of all people. But she knew exactly what the wolf Mew was referring to. Slowly, a blush began to fill the raven haired girl's cheeks. This wasn't how Minto expected to truly confess her feelings, nor did she expect it to happen so soon after she discovered she harbored them.

"Yes," Minto responded genuinely, finding it difficult to force words out of her suddenly dry throat. "I was completely serious."

_Zakuro did a backwards flip on the ground before she materialized her weapon in her hand, sending the divine punishment of her whip waving in Minto's direction. The bird Mew kneeled on the ground and shot one of her holy pink arrows towards Zakuro, and she flew away just quick enough to dodge Zakuro's whip. The wolf Mew, in the process of pulling her weapon back, wasn't able to dodge what threatened her in time, and so the arrow was able to knock her weapon right out of her hand. Zakuro watched her cross land metres behind her in disbelief, just to turn back around again when she heard Minto flying high within the air._

_Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, but Minto knew that wasn't the reason her heart was quivering as she readied her Minto Arrow within her hands. Minto let out a cry that sounded similar to something like, 'Don't make me do this…'_

_But it's not like Zakuro ever listened to her anyway. "Shoot me, Minto!" the older girl demanded, holding her arms out to make herself the perfect target._

"_Oneesama!" the bird Mew cried out with shrill tainting her voice._

"_Stop!"_

_Both of the fighters turned their heads to see their leader, Mew Ichigo, running towards them before she stopped in front of Zakuro to shield her. "Don't do that, Minto!" the cat Mew yelled. This order caused Minto to pull back her weapon and made Zakuro lower her arms back down to her sides._

"_Zakuro-san, you overdid it!" Ichigo scolded, turning around to look at her older teammate._

_All Zakuro could do was widen her eyes in surprise._

"So," the way Zakuro's eyes suddenly darkened made Minto shiver, "if Mew Ichigo hadn't interrupted our fight, would you have shot me?"

"…" Minto felt like she had just turned to stone. Her chocolate eyes widened drastically and her lips peeled themselves apart unconsciously. She couldn't believe that Zakuro had just asked her that… this event happened so long ago, too. How could it still be bothering her?

"If you hated me, I could understand why you would shoot," the purple haired girl exclaimed. She noticed the smaller girl's eyes sharpen slightly. "But if you really loved me like you said…"

"Would you have been disappointed if I did?"

Zakuro's orbs widened at Minto's answer, surprised at her sudden boldness. Would she have been disappointed if Minto shot through her chest like she ordered her to? Would she have finally been at peace if Minto's holy arrow had pierced her heart?

"Or are you disappointed that I didn't?"

The wolf Mew's eyes softened at this, knowing that she had upset the younger girl. She could tell because of the small bits of sadness knitted between each of the raven haired girl's syllables. And—contrary to popular belief—Zakuro didn't like it when Minto was sad. In fact, she considered it to almost be unbearable.

"A small part of me wishes that you did," Zakuro admitted, making Minto's chest tighten in fear. "But in the end, I'm glad you didn't. It wasn't time for me to reunite with him."

"_I declare I lost."_

_Zakuro walked towards her fellow teammates calmly, gaining their attention. "Zakuro-san," Ichigo said._

_The wolf Mew closed her eyes. "I often go to that church to visit someone important to me… someone important who I've lost…" Zakuro explained. "Confused by what others said, we doubted each other even at the last moment." Her expression was calm and her voice was steady, despite how her words were making her remember about the most painful moment of her life._

_When Zakuro finally revealed her sapphire eyes, she noticed that Minto was the only one not looking at her. In fact, she couldn't even see Minto's eyes because her head was lowered. But then she heard the blue haired girl start to sob, which made Zakuro's eyes widen slightly. "Minto…?" she questioned softly._

"_What's wrong, Minto?" Ichigo turned towards her trembling teammate._

"_No…" Minto replied, wiping at her tears. "Nothing."_

_However, Ichigo smiled in understanding. "Look…" the catgirl spoke, giving Minto a small push in the direction of her idol, which made Minto blush a little. Zakuro never took her eyes off her fangirl as she walked up close to her._

"_Minto, I'm so sorry," Zakuro apologized, giving Minto the courage to finally look up at her. The purple haired girl's expression was unusually warm, and her voice was achingly gentle. "You've become so strong now… even I was impressed."_

_Minto could feel tears flood down her cheeks from Zakuro's words and from the amount of care and compassion she could see shining within the older girl's sapphire depths. "Oneesama!" the blue haired girl cried out, throwing herself into Zakuro's arms. Zakuro closed her eyes for a moment, a smile still on her face, before she placed her hands comfortingly upon Minto's quivering shoulders, and before long, Zakuro was holding the sobbing Minto tightly against her chest as if she was the most precious thing in the world._

The bird Mew figured that Zakuro must've been referring to that important person who she had lost in the past. To think that Zakuro would've been willing to die in their fight… that agonizing thought almost made Minto break down. As much as the wolf Mew undoubtedly missed that man, Minto wasn't ready to let her reunite with him just yet, and she wouldn't be ready for a long while.

"Oneesama, I love you," Minto confirmed, a deep blush staining her cheeks as she stared deeply into her idol's sensitive eyes. "I really, really love you. You mean absolutely everything to me, and that is why I could never hurt you… even if you asked me to."

"I know Minto, I know," Zakuro reassured, her tone a bit more gentle now compared to its usual freezing menace. She let out a deep breath through her nose. "Which is why I want to ask you something else… a favor, per se."

"Anything," the raven haired girl replied with a nod, not missing a beat.

"If I ever get into a really distant mood again—"

"—You mean even more so than normal?"

"Yes," the model chuckled lightly. "That look I had in my eyes when I commanded you to shoot me…" Zakuro looked down. "If I ever look like that again, do you mind… holding my hand?"

This caught Minto off guard, and it took all her self control not to let her bird features pop out. "W-What?"

Zakuro looked away and blushed, a delicate blossoming of pink across her cheeks that was so rare and beautiful that it gave Minto butterflies. "When I was little," the flustered Zakuro began to explain, "my… father used to hold my hand whenever I looked sad or lonely, and it always made me feel better. So maybe if you do that for me… I'll be able to feel like he's still here with me."

Minto's shock was continuous. This was the first time Zakuro had ever really told her any details about her past. She soaked in all this new information as deeply as she could without question, because every word concerning Zakuro's past was sacred; special. They were memories and experiences that she would protect with her life.

Minto knew that it must've taken a lot of self-motivation and bravery for Zakuro to confide in her like that, and that made the bird Mew feel very warm inside, like she was being bathed in bliss.

"Of course I'll do that for you Oneesama… but on one condition." Minto lowered her head, her brown orbs hidden by the shadows of her bangs.

"What is it?" Zakuro asked, her blush from before finally beginning to fade away.

"If I ever get into a really dramatic mood again—"

"—You mean even more so than normal?"

"Yes." Minto tried to let out a giggle, but it sounded more like a sob than anything, which made Zakuro's stomach twist. "That look I had in my eyes when you told me you were impressed with me; the way tears were spilling down my cheeks…" Minto looked up with teary eyes and trembling lips. "If I ever look like that again, do you mind… holding me and never letting go?"

Zakuro was stunned at Minto's tears. The soft desperation of Minto's words made the wolfgirl's heart swell painfully in her chest before she gathered up the sobbing girl in her arms without saying a word.

Zakuro embraced Minto tightly until the younger girl had stopped crying. Afterwards, still shrouded in silence, they changed out of their waitress uniforms and back into their regular clothes. Minto was about to call for a ride to her mansion, but instead, she decided to walk Zakuro home, holding her hand the entire time.

When the wolf Mew returned to work the next day, the first thing she noticed was that the cloth she had folded up into a tiny square the day before was still resting in the middle of the table.

"Good morning, Oneesama," Minto greeted cheerfully. Zakuro turned towards the sound of her voice—just to notice that none of their teammates were there yet—to see Minto sitting at her special table, expectedly. "Would you like me to pour you some tea?" Minto held up the kettle in offering, a joyful twinkle in her eyes.

The purple haired celebrity ignored her fan for just a moment, her attention still being drawn to the white cloth upon the table. She unfolded its silk with her fingertips, just to see the words, _"I'll always be here for you"_ written in blue marker.

Zakuro couldn't suppress a smile from forming on her lips, her chest warming in fulfillment. She walked over to Minto's table and sat on the chair across from her.

"Thank you," Zakuro spoke genuinely after Minto had finished pouring her some herbal tea, but both her and Minto knew it wasn't the tea she was thankful for. Minto took a hold of her idol's hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"You're welcome."

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><p><strong>I actually was intending this story to be a bit more serious than how it turned out... I swear, my writing just turns adorable on its own. They all have an undeniable cute charm, don't they xD Oh well, I'm proud of how cute my stories can be. I know this is short, but I didn't want it to be long. The shortness adds to the overall affect and emotion of this story I think.<br>**

**I wrote this with the Zakumint pairing in mind (I did make Minto reveal her love), however, I didn't make Minto say that she was IN love with Zakuro, I just made Minto say that she loves her. So, in this story, if you want to view their relationship as merely friends or sisters, that's fine by me.**

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my story! I'm always up to writing more Zakumint, so if you guys want a fic dedicated to you, all you have to do is ask. Please review, it makes my day! :)**


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